Game Girls, the second feature documentary from Polish director Alina Skrzeszewska (Songs from the Nickel), chronicles the many ups and downs (mostly the latter) of an African-American lesbian couple scraping by in L.A.’s Skid Row neighborhood.

When the film begins, one of the women, Teri, is coping with mental illness, while the other, Tiahna, has been locked up in jail for drug dealing – which means that what you’re about to witness will not necessarily be a smooth ride.
Granting us what seems like unlimited access to the lives of Teri and Tiahna over the course of a year or so, we follow them from their happy union after Tiahna’s release to the difficult days they spend trying to scrape by on Skid Row – an area made up of 55 city blocks in downtown Los Angeles, and whose homeless population is estimated to be around 10,000.

The girls definitely form a lively pair, with Teri, the older and rougher of the two, first seen dropping a litany of f-bombs and trying to pick a fight in the street. But they manage to find solace and tenderness in each other’s arms […].